Morocco's King Mohammed VI has promoted his brother Prince Moulay Rachid to the rank of brigadier in the 200,000-strong Royal Armed Forces (FAR), reported Reuters, quoting the state-run RTM radio.

"His Majesty King Mohammed, the supreme chief of FAR has promoted Moulay Rachid to the rank of General de Brigade," RTM said.

Rachid, 30, previously held the rank of Major-Colonel, said Reuters.

At a royal palace ceremony, the king also promoted three major generals to the rank of Lieutenant General.

They are Hosni Benslimane, head of the paramilitary, Abdelaziz Bennani, in charge of the southern zone (the disputed Western Sahara) and Abdelhak Kadiri, head of the counter-intelligence service.

King Mohammed, 36, who holds the rank of a four-star General also promoted six others to the rank of Major General, among them chiefs of military intelligence. The radio did not name them, said the agency.

The monarch also promoted 13 officers to the rank of brigadiers, including Hamidou Laanigri, head of internal security or the Direction de Surveillance du Territoire (DST).

The king appointed Laanigri head of DST services shortly after his enthronement in July 1999, to deal mainly with social unrest in the disputed Western Sahara.

Morocco has maintained half of its total armed forces in Western Sahara since Morocco took control of the former Spanish 1976, at a cost of $2 million a day, the agency said, quoting Western diplomats - Albawaba.com